Collectable Card Game - Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball Heroes is a Carddass trading card game developed in Japan and is based on the Dragon Ball franchise. Carddass is a system of arcade games that players use physical cards on an arcade machine surface to summon characters in-game. The first Dragon Ball Heroes machine debuted in Japan in 2010. After showing an incredibly positive response from various demographics, the game continued to remain relevant, releasing up to 10 sets of cards until 2016, when Bandai updated the machines and cards to Super Dragon Ball Heroes. Super Dragon Ball Heroes featured improved graphics and gameplay, improving the overall player experience. There are currently 12 card sets (not including promotional sets and campaign cards) as of February 2020. Super Dragon Ball Heroes has also seen successful releases on various platforms including 3DS and Nintendo Switch. A promotional manga written by Toyotaro is serialized in Saikyo Jump magazine. Toei Animation also intermittently releases a web anime adaptation.

For the arcade version, players can make a special IC card called a Hero License to save their progress in the game. Seven cards can be used in-game along with a custom avatar. The avatar can be chosen from a variety of races such as Android, Buu race, Namekian, Frieza race, Supreme Kai and male or female Saiyan (much like in the Xenoverse game series). Each race has classes such as Hero, Elite or Berserker that have different stat parameters and abilities that grow as the player levels up. The Dragon Balls (regular, dark and super) can be gathered for various power ups, experience, or other items. The game can also be played in multiplayer mode as PVP. The game’s design was supervised by the original creator, Akira Toriyama.

Dragon Ball Z Collectible Card Game (Panini: 2000-2017)

The Dragon Ball Z Collectible Card Game (by Panini) is a now discontinued trading card game based on Dragon Ball that ran from 2000 until its discontinuation in 2017. The series was originally produced by Score Entertainment as their first product in 2000 before being bought in 2009 by Panini America (famous for sports related trading card games and other franchises such as Batman, Justice League, Attack on Titan, and so on). This card game series used screenshots of popular or important scenes from the anime as opposed to original artwork. Starting with the Saiyan Saga deck and booster packs, the game went on to release as many as 18 sets (not including promotional cards). When Bandai first released its own card game in 2008, this game was discontinued for the first time, but made a comeback in 2014 with a remake following the revival of Dragon Ball via Battle of Gods and the following movies and series. The new game was designed by Panini America and former Dragon Ball Z Collectible Card Game world champion Aik Tongtharadol. The new game was, however, discontinued following Bandai’s Dragon Ball Super Collectible Card Games release in 2017.

Dragon Ball Collectible Card Game (Bandai: 2017-Present)

Bandai’s own Dragon Ball Collectible Card Game was released in 2008, but did not reach the levels of success that was anticipated and quickly died out. However, in 2017 Bandai re-released the game to greater success with the name Dragon Ball Super Collectible Card Game. In stark difference to the Panini card game, Bandai’s game uses original artwork from across the Dragon Ball franchise and includes characters from the Xenoverse series.

The game is played by selecting a Leader Card and using a deck of 50 Battle Cards and Extra Cards to attack, defend or support the Leader Card. Leader Cards are placed on the field at the start of the game and have a CG illustration and a double-sided design. The Leader Cards HP level determines the outcome of the game. If the Leader Cards HP reaches zero, the game is over. Battle Cards are used to attack and do damage to the opponent's Battle Cards until they are knocked out, leaving the leader exposed. Battle Cards may have special abilities that also help determine the pace of the battle and can be used in combos to unleash even more devastating attacks and damage. Support cards are used to create more intricate battle strategies such as knocking out cards with a certain amount of power or rarity. Both Battle Cards and Support Cards feature anime-style illustrations.

To play the game, players first place a Leader Card faceup in Active mode in the Leader area. Then the player must place their deck face down in the deck area. After deciding who goes first, the player draws six cards from their deck to form their hand. The player has one chance to re-draw and can do so by choosing a number of cards, shuffling them into the deck, and then re-drawing the same number of cards. Eight cards are then placed from the top of the deck into the Life area face down. The cards in the life area can’t be checked during the game. After this, the game is ready to be played. The game is turn-based and is played in three phases. In the Charge Phase, the player switches all cards from Rest Mode to Active mode, draws a card, and can place a card from their hand into the Energy area in Active mode. The Main Phase allows the player to play Battle Cards from the hand, activate card skills, awaken the Leader Card, and battle. The End Phase is when the turn changes and the opponent takes their turn.

Links

Dragon Ball Series
Dragon Ball Z Series
Dragon Ball Kai Series
Dragon Ball Super Series
Dragon Ball GT Series
Super Dragon Ball Heros
Akira Toriyama